Kukla's Korner Hockey

Ward was a member of the Red Wings at the time, and vividly recalls the night Detroit finally exacted revenge for Claude Lemieux’ brutal cheap shot on Kris Draper in the previous year’s playoffs. Darren McCarty pounded Lemieux into a bloody mess, while goalies Mike Vernon and Patrick Roy took center stage in an unlikely main event.
“The funny thing about that situation is we had already had games (since the Draper hit),” Ward said. “There was no indication given by anybody that anything was going to happen. I was in complete disbelief.”
Ward was never known as a fighter, but ended up in the middle of the fray, matched up against Avalanche enforcer Brent Severyn in one of the night’s many bouts.
“I think that was the worst ass-kicking I’ve ever taken in a fight,” Ward said. “We started off the second period with me and Larry Murphy on defense and I said to Larry if anything happens, don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. . . . I didn’t realize that before the shift even started, Severyn had already taken off his elbow pads and his shoulder pads